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Sports briefs

The Chatham County Youth Invitational track meet will be from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at T.A. Wright Stadium at Savannah State University.

The event, hosted by the Savannah-Chatham Silver Cheetahs, is for track athletes ages 4-18. The entry fee is $10.

The event is sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union, and all participants must have a current AAU membership.

For more information, contact Ed Jinks at 912-660-1475 or jj9948@comcast.net.

Surfer Josh Richardson captures regional title

Josh Richardson, a junior at Islands High School, won the Junior Men’s Longboard competition at the Eastern Surfing Association’s Mid-Atlantic Regionals earlier this month in Carolina Beach, N.C.

Richardson, an ESA All-Star, secured a spot for the finals called The Easterns held in September on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Savannah Auburn Club banquet set for June 12

The Savannah Auburn Club’s annual banquet will be June 12 at 6 p.m. at the Carey Hilliard’s Restaurant, 11111 Abercorn St.

The speaker is Lewis Colbert, Auburn’s starting punter from 1982-85 and 1985 All-American. Colbert finished his career as Auburn’s record holder for career punts and career yardage. He later went on to punt for the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Diego Chargers.

Colbert recently wrote a book, “Lewis Colbert: The Unlikeliest Auburn Tiger,” describing how he overcame being born with a club foot and his career at Auburn.

Tickets are $25 per person. Checks can be made to “Savannah Auburn Club” and can be mailed in advance to 136 Brown Pelican Dr., Savannah, GA 31419.

There will be a raflle of a football signed by football coach Gene Chizik and many other prizes.

Epperson in contention at eGolf Tour event

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Savannah native Chris Epperson is tied for seventh after two rounds Thursday of the eGolf Tour’s Willow Creek Open, a 54-hole event at Willow Creek Country Club.

Epperson, a resident of Hilton Head Island, S.C., shot rounds of 69-68 for 7-under-par. Peter Malnati of Dandridge, Tenn., leads at 12 under.

A former standout at Savannah Christian and Armstrong Atlantic State, Epperson was the medalist Tuesday with a 69 at the U.S. Open local qualifier at Colleton River Plantation in South Carolina.

Savannah’s Wills Smith missed the cut at 3 over.

NATIONAL

SMU fires athletic director Steve Orsini

DALLAS — SMU athletic director Steve Orsini was fired Thursday, just four weeks after he and the Mustangs hired Hall of Fame basketball coach Larry Brown.

The move was announced by SMU President R. Gerald Turner in a news release, and was effective immediately.

“After several discussions over the last few weeks, it became apparent to me that it was necessary to make this change,” Turner said. “While we both are committed to the support of our student-athletes and coaches, a unified effort is required for future progress in our athletics programs.”

Orsini had been SMU’s athletic director since 2006. In January 2011, he had been given a contract extension through May 2015.

Turner thanked Orsini for his contributions to SMU athletics and said a national search for a new AD would begin immediately. Tim Leonard, the senior associate director of athletics for external affairs, was named interim AD.

SMU is set to move from Conference USA to the Big East Conference in July 2013.